What is the point of the depressible peg on a quick release plate?

Question

Many tripod quick release plates have a plastic or metal peg near the screw.  You can press down on the peg, and then when you release it, it pops back up.  I've looked at photos of many camera bottoms, and I haven't seen any camera that has a hole that the peg would fit into.  What is the purpose of this peg?

I just got a smartphone tripod adapter, and this adapter has some concave areas on the bottom part that sits flush against the quick release plate.  As I was screwing the adapter onto my tripod's quick release plate, the peg on the plate got caught in one of the concave areas and then got ripped out of the plate.  I'd like to know the purpose of this peg before deciding if I can get rid of it.

Alan Marcus · Accepted Answer

It’s called an anti-rotation pin. This pin interfaces with most cine (motion picture) cameras. Cinematographic camera applications often involve panning the camera. Such activities can result in the camera slipping on its mount. An anti-rotation pin locks the camera and prevents unwanted gyrations. Additionally, on a film cine camera, to reload a fresh roll of film, the camera may need to be dismounted from the tripod. There this pin does double duty: it serves as a locater pin that helps restore the camera’s position when remounted to the tripod.

Correct answer by Alan Marcus on December 31, 2020

Floris · Answer

I haven't seen any camera that has a hole that the peg would fit into.

Let me fix that for you. Here is the base of an old video camera of mine:

The little hole is where the peg goes. If you don't have a camera base with a hole, you don't need the peg. If you do, you do. It stops the camera from rotating relative to the plate you clip to the tripod.

What is the point of the depressible peg on a quick release plate?

2 Answers

Add your own answers!

Ask a Question